Annunciating and indicating apparatus



Patented Jan. 9 1945 I UNITILEDJ-l.

I "ANNUNCIATING AND INDIOATING PPARATUS H Arthur rPQmIacke l, Penn "Township; Allegheny Us H-rCounty, Pa.,-.;assignor. to flhe Union Switch 8; i

.Sig'rial Compa'ny, Swissvale, Pa., a corporation j of Pennsylvania r t :1: l-lApplication November 35,1943, seriamwsmsss 9 Claims. 101. 177- 353) "Myinvention relatesqto;annunciating' and ini n apparatus; andris suitable for useincfen- 1 tralized trafiimcontrolusystems fo r railroads to'-- *positive" terfninal B;a negativeterminal C; and

provide continuously visibleand"momentari1y"- W -center tap orintermediateterminal10;proaudible ind-ications of"itraflic".cbnditions 'at re- *6 Vides currentfor reversibly energizing themelays; points. I i The reverse contact a of ea'ch reIayYcontr IS a Insystemsof'this"character;a*miniature traok I correspondingly designatejcl lainpwE in the track "diagram is"gerierallyprovided at the contfol of- -f diagram;asishown, whilethenorm'al andreverse ficewcomprising a representation of thetrack contacts'barefail connected inseries in acircuit layout'twiththewtrackszofthediagramillumi-" c0ntro11ing'an additional rel'ayi Xm which, as i r 'nated by lampscdntrolled by-indication r'elays shown, is a -biased polarrel'ay of asensitive: type 'which'irefiect the condition of-theyeorresponding" arranged to close its' reverse eo ntactswhen de- 7 EtraekisectionszixThese may includeapproach in- '1 energized, asindicatedconventionally by:biasing dieation lampsgseach ilightedutok'indicatethata" springsonits contacts. "train has entered amapproaph zone; a ,t ackym (iontact d' ar -amiss controls the audible (indication :lamps each 'lightew whenva train oc- "signal device illustrated aasifiglestrokebell XB. cupiesia detectot"section'ineluding aninteflocked The remote control system by which the-indiwtracklswitchul: Siheethenumbenof lampsiis usu-f -cation relays rare-eontrolled may be"Df any suitmagnetically in their last operated position when the .rel'ay is" deener'gized; A battery-having a allywquite llarge it is ofradvanta'ge toiprovide an:

audible signal ."devicento: attract the*oper'atbrsli attentionrprompfly: $0 the: display of a" new ap- 1: n preach-"indication! on the trackadiagram', and unj 'der some conditions "to cause the signal to sound 1 able type, "the one chosen to? illustrat' rmy .inven-, 'tion being that of Lett'ersTPatent :of the United States Not" 2,292,245;."issuedAugust i,1%2, to Clarence SfiSn'avely, TAIfred B, :Mi11er and Arthur P; Jackel, the relays shown h'erein corresponding in function to the similarly de SHIP : ag'ain'rwhen the h approaching 1 train enters a a designatedsrelays of tectortraicksection. s i

p L this patent s 1"1Oneobjectrofimy imventionvisrtoprovideindi- For *an" understandixig of iny -inventiozi it is eating and annuneiating apparatus of this 'char- 1 deemed ='suflicient= to-point fout thatthe remote *acter whichtisifs llitableLfOItIlSGFifi systems\emp1oy control system iricludes an offic'e receiver respon- -irig:kquiclivactingt indication: relayspsuches those siveto ind-ication codes c omprising" a series of of :"the;stiekapolar ityp'e.ascshowngfor examplain so spaced impulses for operating a chain 'o S pi the'UnitedstatesNd2;140604, ping relays including the relays IP, luv-112p iissuedieflecemberi20211938,:ClarenceSFSnaAzely," and MP, on ata time on thecorrespo ndinglyv for:fliectricalzrelaysytorwhich thje cincuits usedf numbered stepsi and. that thecharacterw'ofeach :heretofore i111 connection awithrelays 'of other impulse' is made manifest by thefenr n ypesare not applicab e. i 5 one: or me othefi of two eharaeteii determinin :A furtherrobjectxof lmy invention is to provide relai s A2 and C2 As' 'showi steps 0 .1mpfioved'eircuits forl controlling an"audible Sig- 14"0f the-code are assignew'to the'control of nai devicabyzmiarge number of indication =re1ays "relate RAK n'dLAK; respectively, each of .iisingonly oneif contact fingerion eaeh indication which is"0perated-to' norma1 or""reversedepend-' relay; BQndlOIIlY one. additionat relaypemployifig ing on whetherre1ay A2 or C2 is picked up when indication relaysrhavingastandard windings and I the corresponding relay P- isoperatedg- Relay Al "contact adjustmentsandidenticalwith those used is a "normally"eiiergized relay which is re'leased xelsewhere'in=theisystem; 1 for the duration of each eodew :Remy 0R re- .klshall"describe-one' form of apparatus embody-= spends se1ective1y-to the character of the first ingmyqmerrtioni andi'shall then pointRout the "step, and conditions theapparatus' to function novel-ieatures thereofih claimsi as'a receiver,- since as 'explained in the patent,

Referring to theaocompanyingdrawing; to ilthe same codingepparatusfunctions attimes as llustrate my ainvention r=have shown threestick 'iaeode transmitter. pol ar indicatioii rlays "ar'id *sl-iitable circuits On the 'first step of a received "co'de'; relay Al thereforgvthese being the relays 'l-KflRAK and "releases andrelaysAZ ahd lPpiek up; c'omp1et V alt is to beamderstoodthat-ingeneral the ing a circuit from terminal B at contact-e of "centralizedtrafiidcohtrol system employstalarge relay A21overcont'act 'cof relay lP through relay number of suchrelays,and thateaoh isad-apted OR to terminalCfiso' that relay ORi picks up in to operate its contacts aand'wb ito th--left-haz d g completing' a stick eircuitove'r its own contact 'vor-mormal positiong as shown,'WheneurIent'IrBm at extending totermihalB aficbhtactbiof relay the apositive terminal of a sfiiitable sourqefiows Al whereby rela'yOR is heldener'gizedhntil the from left tdrright thi'oug-h its winding, and to end of the code. On thefirst; step, before relay .=operateitSeQntacts tothe right hand br reverse lPreleases, relay QReomriletesa piek-upcircuit ;'po'sition:intrespohse to 'eurrent fiowing"in the for relay XH'frOmfterminaI- B lat its' contact e opposite directionyahdtthatthe'contacts'ere hid pver eontactEepfoday 1-13; resistor lfl" and the upper winding of relay XR to terminal C, operating relay XR to close its contact a and to open its contacts I) and d. The closing of contact a of relay XR completes a stick circuit for that relay extending from terminal B at contact e of relay OR over the manually operable switch TB, contacts I) of relays RAK and LAK, contact a and the upper winding of relay XR to terminal 0, whereby relay XR is held energized A2, contact b of relay OR, contact of relay IIJP through relay 'I'K and the lower Winding of relay XR to terminal 0. Relay TK remains in its normal position as shown, and since the currents in the two windings of relay XRare additive, relay XR remains normal.

Similarly, if relay A2 is energized when relay B2? or MP picks up, the indication relay LAK or RAK being normal, as shown, relay XR also remains normal. If relay LAK or RAK is operated from reverse to normal, relay XR. is held energized by the current through its lower winding during thetime that the indication relay contact b is in transit and the current throughthe upper winding of relay XR is thereby interrupted, so that in this case as well, relay XR remains normal.-

Assuming next that relay C2 is energized in place of relay A2 on the tenth step, relay TK will be operated to reverse over the circuit extending from. terminal 0 through the lower winding of relay XR, the winding of relay 'IK, contact 0 of relay lEiP, contact b of relay OR, to terminal C at contact e of relay C2, thereby lighting the lamp TKE' to indicate that the corresponding track section is occupied. The currents in the two windings of relay XR now are in opposition, but it is to be understood that the circuits are so proportioned that the energization of the upper winding predominates by an amount at least sufiicient to overcome the relay bias, or tendency of the relay to close its reverse contacts when deenergized, and to provide sufficient additional energization to maintain the normal contact a closed.

If relay C2 is energized when relay IZP or MP picks up, and the indication relays LAK and RAK already occupy their reverse positions, relay XR will remain in its normal position, for similar reasons. On the other hand, if relay LAK or RAK is initially in its normal position and is operated to reverse, its contact b While in transit opens the circuit through theupper winding of relay XR'and then the reverse current through the lower winding of relay XR, assisted by its biasing force, drives its contacts to reverse, completing the circuit from terminal B over contacts f of relays OR and IP and. contact d of relay XR through the winding of the bell XB to terminal C, thereby ringing the bell XB to announce the lighting of an indication lamp in the track diagram.

. It may happen that after relay XR has been reversed by one indication relay, such as the relay LAK, another indication relay LAK is operated to normal on a succeeding step which follows so quickly that there is insufiicient time for the proper operation of the bell 2GB between-the two steps. For this reason relay XR is arranged to be non-responsive to the code impulses which follow the one by which it is reversed by the closing of its contact b which shunts its lower Winding, and as shown, bell XB remains energized until relay OR is released at the end of the code. It will be seen that the bell 253 is caused to sound once during each code by which one or more indication'relays are operated from normal to reverse, but under no other condition.

It will be understood that the system generally includes a number of track indication relays like relay TK and that all of these will have their contacts b so located in the stick circuit for relay XR that they are shunted by the switch TPB. When switch TPB is open, these relays are rendered effective to operate the bell XB, as will be obvious.

Relay XR may also be of the stick polar type,

It will be clear, however, that the driving force applied to the contacts of relay XE, should be considerably in excess of that applied to contacts b of the indication relays in order to insure the opening of contact a of relay XR even though the time the indication relay contact b is open in transit is extremely short. If this force is due solely to the current in the lower winding of relay XR, theindication relays in series therewith would require special windings of low resistance. A biased polar relay is therefore preferred as only a portion of its reverse driving force is obtained from its lower winding, permitting its connection in series with standard indication relays similar to those used elsewhere in the system. Nevertheless, this circuit materially increases the force available for driving the relay to reverse over that obtainable by merely opening the circuit through the upper winding with the relay driven merely by its biasing force which obviously is always less than that obtainable by energizing the relay. Consequently,

relay XR operates at a relatively high speed, providing proper operation even though the transit time of the indication relay contacts is extremely short.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of apparatus embodying my inven- 3 tion, it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. Annunciating apparatus'for audibly indicating a change in condition of anyone of a number of visual indicators comprising, an indication an audible signal device, and an energizing circuit for said device controlled by a reverse contact of said additional relay.

2. In combination with a series of indication relays operable to normal or reverse positions, a

polar relay having two windings, a circuit includ ing one winding of the polar relay for energizing the relaymomentarily in the normal or reverse direction whenever one of said indication relays is operated to a corresponding normal or reverse I position, a circuit including the other winding of said polar relay for holding the relay energized only as long as it remains in its normal position including its own normal contact and in series therewith a contact of each indication relay ar- I ranged to open the circuit momentarily when such contact is in transit from one position to another, an audible signal device controlled by a reverse contact of said polar relay, and means for operating said polar relay to its normal posia tion to establish said holding circuit. l

3. In combination with a series of indication relays operable to normal or reverse positions, a polar relay having two windings, a circuit including. one winding of thepolar relay for energizing the relay momentarily in the normal or reverse direction whenever one of said indication I I relays is operated to a corresponding normal or reverse position, a circuit including the other winding of the polar relay arranged to energize the relay in the normal direction only as long as it remains in its normal position and each indication relay remains in its normalor reverse position, and an audible signal device responsive to the closing. of a reverse contact of said polar relay.

4. In combination with a series of indication relays of the stick polar type, an additionalpolar relay having two windings, means'for energizing said indication relays successively inthe normal or reverse direction in series with one winding of said additional relay, a circuit including the other winding of said additional relay arranged to energize the relay in the normal direction only as I long as it remains in its normal position and each indication relay remains in its normal or reverse position, means for short circuiting said one winding of the additional relay comprisinga reverse contact of such relay, a signaldevice, and

an energizing circuityfor said deviceincluding a second reverse contact of said additional relay.

,5. In combination with a series of indication relays of the stick polarj type, a remotecontrol system for operating said indication relays successively by impulses of normal orzreverse polarity, an additional polar relay having two wind- ,ingsone of which ,is connected in series with said indication relays to render the indication re- I lay responsive to each of said impulses, means including said remote control system for causing said additional relay to assume its normal position prior to the operation of said indication relays, a holding circuit for said additional relay including a normal contact of said additional relay and its other winding, means including a contact of each indication relay for opening said holding circuit momentarily during the operation of such indication relay from one position to another, means including a contact of said addi tional relay closed in its reverse position for rendering such relay non responsive to the impulses supplied to the indication relays, a signal device, and an energizing circuit for said device including a second reverse contact of said additional relay.

c. In combination with a series of indication relays operable to normal or reverse positions, a.

polar relay having two windings, means including l a series of impulses of selected character for positioning said indication relays successively tonormal or reverse as required to correspond with the a character of said impulses, means for repeatedly energizing one winding of said polar relay in the normal orreverse direction in accordance with the character of the successive impulses, a circuit including a normal contact and the other winding of said polar relay arranged ,to be energized to hold the relay normal even though its one winding is energized in the reverse direction, means inany indication relay is operated from one position to another to effect thereversal of the polar relay provided its one winding is energized reverse at thetime, means including a second contact ofcthepolar relay forpreventing the energization of its one .winding after the relay has been re- I versed, a signal device, and an energizing circuit for said device controlled by said polar relay.

relays operable to normal or reverse positions, a polar relay having two windings and normally" biased to a reverse position, means including a series of impulses of selected character for posi-' ,mal or'reverse as required to correspond with the character of said impulses, means for repeatedly energizingone winding of said polar relay in the normal or reverse direction in accordance with the character of the successive impulses, a circuit includinga normal contact and the other winding of said polar relay arranged to hold the relay normal against its bias and also against the reverse energizationof, its one winding, means in- C1uding contacts of said indication relays for opening said holding circuit momentarily when any indication relay is operated from one position to another to. efiect the reversal of the polar relay provided its one winding is energized reverse at the time, means including a contact of the polar device, and an energizing circuit for said device controlled by the polar relay. I 40 mally closed holding circuitior the polar relay including a normal contact of said relay and contacts of said indication relays each adapted to open the circuit when in transit from one position to another, means including a second circuit for energizing the polar relay in the normal direction to prevent'its reversal during the time said holding circuit is opened due to the movement of any indication relay contact to a given position and for energizing the polar relay in its reverse direction to increase the force acting to reverse the relaywhen its holding circuit is opened due to the movement of any indication relay contact to its other position, a signal device, and means responsive to the reversal of said polar relay for actuating said signal device.

9. In combination, a series of indication relays,

,a two position polar relay, a normally closed hold ing circuit for the polar relay including a normal contact of said relay and contacts of said indication relays each-adapted to open the circuit when in. transit from one position to another, I

means includingaflsecond circuit for energizing any indication relay contact toa given position and for energizing the polar relay in the'reverse direction to effect its reversal while said holding circuit is opened due to the movement of any indication relay contact to its other position, a signal device, and means responsive to the reversal of said polar relay device. I

; ARTHUR P. JACKEL.

eluding contacts of said indication relays for opening said holding circuit momentarily when a 7 In combination with a series of indication I tionin g said indication relays successively to nor-' relay for preventing the energization. of its one I winding after thejrelay has been reversed, a signal 8. 'In combination, a, series of indication relays, a polar relay biased to a reverse position,a northe polar relayin the normal direction while said holding circuit is opened due to the movement of a for actuating said signal 

